Gas-fired fryers for commercial deep fat frying of chicken or other foods are well known, and are less efficient than desirable. In the frying apparatus of Reid, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,289, the oil is heated by an annular infrared radiant gas burner assembly which heats the oil primarily by infrared radiation passing from the burner assembly directly through the vessel wall. Jaye, U.S. Pat. No. 2,573,144, shows a slotted outlet gas burner head having a plurality of outlets 5, but the burner is without the novel features of internal structure found in the burner of the invention.